Why Do You Do It That Way?

When using software tools, hardware devices, and mechanical contraptions, do you always follow a certain sequence of operations on the basis that you know this sequence works?

I was entering an article into the EETimes content management system (CMS) the other day when I started to ponder the order in which I performed certain actions. This led me to ruminate on the reasons why...

But first let me say that one of my favorite science fiction stories when I was a teenager was Mindswap by Robert Sheckley. This is set some time in the future. The human race has made contact with many alien worlds, but interstellar travel in the traditional form -- physically moving one's body from one planet to another on a spaceship -- is extremely expensive.

The alternative is to use a low-cost service called "MindSwap," which temporarily switches your consciousness with that of an alien being who wishes to visit your world. This way, both of you can inhabit a new body and experience new surroundings while still maintaining your own personality and memories.

This is what our hero -- a young lad named Marvin -- determines to do, so he uses the Mindswap service to exchange minds with a being from Mars. Soon after he (or his mind) arrives, however, his problems start. It turns out the body he is currently inhabiting was rented to multiple creatures. Unfortunately, Marvin was not the first to sign the agreement, so the judge informs Marvin that he has only a few hours to evacuate the body he is in. Even worse, the consciousness of the alien who swapped with Marvin has run off with his original body. Marvin's only recourse is to go to the Open Market, where smaller, independent operators provide a Mindswap service of a more dubious quality.

Not surprisingly, our hero ends up having a lot of interesting adventures. In the course of his travels, Marvin ends up in the body of a Melden with the task of hunting Ganzer eggs, which, he is informed, find many uses as aphrodisiacs and love objects on various planets. Marvin is somewhat surprised to find that he himself is being hunted by an adult Ganzer, because, it turns out, Melden hides also find use (after curing and tanning) "as imperial vestments on Triana II, for good luck charms on Nemo, and for seat covers on Chrysler XXX."

I donít mind saying that things are starting to look just a tad bleak until Marvin is introduced to "The Hermit." Initially, the Hermit talks only in rhyme, and he wonít respond to Marvin unless he does likewise. Sometime later, they end up in the Hermit's hut, at which point he reverts to a more regular speech pattern. When Marvin queries this, the Hermit informs him that the reason he speaks in verse outside is to protect himself.

There then follows a lively debate, in which Marvin argues that speaking in verse cannot protect anyone from anything. Eventually, Marvin responds to one of the Hermit's thrusts by saying: "I donít try to walk on water because I've seen men drown." In turn, the hermit responds: "And I do not speak a prose language outside because I have seen too many men killed while speaking it; but I have not seen one single verse-speaker killed."

As you can imagine, it's hard to argue with logic like that. All of which leads us to the point of my trip down memory lane (yes, there really is a point, try to keep up with me). In the case of the EE Times CMS, there are multiple routes one might choose to enter a column. I could perform one action first and then another, or I could -- theoretically -- perform the second action before the first. The thing is that I always do things in exactly the same way because I know that way works. I could try doing things another way, but to what end?

And then I started wondering... Is it just me? Am I crazy? Or does everyone do this sort of thing? Consider the software tools and hardware devices and mechanical contraptions with which you interact each day. Do you use them willy-nilly as the whim takes you, or do you follow a certain sequence of operations on the basis that you know this sequence works and you donít wish to tempt the fates?

@Betajet That's a good one! You are right about trying to spend bigger bills - every year for my birthday my mom gives me a $100 bill, and every year I have trouble spending it. Well actually I should clarify - I have no trouble spending $100, I just have trouble getting shops to take it!

Karen wrote: I'm waiting for the day when the standard unit of money is $50...

One shop I go to often won't accept anything larger than a $20. It seems there are too many forged $50 and $100 bills out there, and when you're a small coöperative a bad $50 or $100 can wipe out the day's net profit.

I find most of the shops I use are delighted to see $5 and $10 bills, since many customers pay with $20s so the shop has to keep a lot of smaller bills on hand to make change.

Today's Joke, from the Northern Wisconsin wing of the Old Jokes' Home:

Two forgers are sentenced to 20 years in jail. They manage to smuggle in two plates, engraving tools, and a $25 bill. They spend the next 20 years making a perfect forgery of the $25 bill.

When they get out, they discover that nobody uses $25 bills any more. But one of them gets an idea: "Let's go to Northern Wisconsin -- I bet they still use $25 bills there!"

So they go to Northern Wisconsin and find a general store. One of them asks the shopkeeper: "Do you have change for a 25?" He answers: "Sure, how about three 7s and a 4?"

@betajet: Wouldn't it make more sense just to enter an amount in dollars?

Of course it would -- this sort of thing annoys me also.

It's like when you enter a credit card number for an online purchase and they say "no spaces" ... why the #$%$^ not? Why shouldn't you be able to use spaces or dashes -- is it beyond 21st century coding ability to take them out again?

Here's my pet peeve user interface defect. In the USA automatic teller machines only output US$20 bills. However, when you enter a custom withdrawal amount you have to enter both dollars and cents, which it then checks to make sure it's a multiple of 20.00. Wouldn't it make more sense just to enter an amount in dollars?

If a site, (or any device with an interface), is easy to use, regardless of order, you'll probably accidentally make entries in different orders on different occasions, but likely adopt one pattern out of habit.

If it's perverse and complicated, once you've found (by systematic research or blind chance), a sequence that works, you'll probably stick rigidly with it, for fear failure.

Now, about the process for posting comments; if I ever work out a reliable sequence, I'm going to stick with it religiously.

@DrQuine: ...my growing "Rogues Gallery" (10 dozen and counting) of horrible software interfaces and web sites demonstrates that even Fortune 500 companies need to be reminded of the basics.

I've got a great book on interface design somewhere on my bookshelves that should be required reading for anyone creating any form of user interface (speaking of which, I really need to reorganize my bookshelves)

Humans are quite good at requesting information and making sense of the answers even if they are received in the wrong order. Computers generally require that steps be performed in a particular sequence. The most obvious solution is to design systems in such a way that the desired sequence is intuitive and can be followed without thinking. This requires that the software / web interfaces are compatible with all browsers and that the buttons to click are all visible and functional. All these tips should be obvious in retrospect, but my growing "Rogues Gallery" (10 dozen and counting) of horrible software interfaces and web sites demonstrates that even Fortune 500 companies need to be reminded of the basics.